Playground equipment for your school, church, park or neighborhood
Find costs for your group, see which grants you can get, and learn who can quote it.
Who will use this playground?
Most commercial playground equipment, the heavy-duty kind made for schools, churches, parks and neighborhoods instead of backyards, usually comes to $15,000 to $50,000 before the ground cover and installation. On this site you can see what your project may cost, find grants and ask local dealers for prices.
Playground Grants in Your State
The state decides which grants you can get. Choose it to list the grants open there.
Towns in Ohio can apply for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the main federal park grant, through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Schools, churches and charities can use national programs.
What Playground Equipment Usually Costs
GameTime, a playground manufacturer, suggests setting aside roughly $1,000 for every child playing at once. KOMPAN, another manufacturer, has published what four kinds of finished projects cost, including the equipment, installation, surfacing and freight:
| Kind of site | Example total |
|---|---|
| Homeowner association | $75,000 |
| Kindergarten | $120,300 |
| School | $139,600 |
| Public park | $232,100 |
These totals include surfacing, installation and freight, which is why they are higher than the equipment price alone. They come from KOMPAN's playground budget breakdown and use its 2022 US prices.
Calculate a range for your group
Who Makes Commercial Playground Equipment
In the US, a handful of manufacturers supply most school, church, and park playgrounds, which local dealers sell and install.
Landscape Structures
Delano, Minnesota
GameTime
Fort Payne, Alabama
Playworld
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
BCI Burke
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Little Tikes Commercial
Monett, Missouri
Miracle Recreation
Monett, Missouri
KOMPAN
Denmark
Superior Recreational Products
Carrollton, Georgia
How Much Does Commercial Playground Equipment Cost?
On top of the equipment you pay freight (the delivery charge) and you pay for professional installation, which puts the equipment together and fixes it to the ground. You also need safety surfacing, the soft ground cover that cushions falls. With all of that, smaller church and daycare projects usually cost $25,000 to $75,000.
Our cost estimate works out a range for your group from one number: how many children play at the same time.
Grants to Help Pay for a Playground
Towns, counties and park districts can ask their state office for a grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It is the main federal grant for public parks, and it usually pays back half the cost after the town has paid the bills.
Schools and nonprofits, meaning charities and community groups, often use matching funds instead: a program adds money or equipment value next to what your group raises. GameTime Community Champions, for example, adds value toward GameTime's own play systems, so it lowers the price rather than paying cash. The American Academy of Dermatology gives up to $8,000 toward a permanent shade cover to groups whose sun-safety lessons for children have run for a year or more. Our grants finder lists the programs in your state.
Getting Quotes for Playground Equipment in Your Area
Playgrounds are sold through local dealers and manufacturers' representatives, people who sell one brand in your region for the big playground equipment manufacturers. They help you measure the space, choose the equipment and the ground cover, and arrange the installation. Send one short quote request and dealers in your area will reply with written prices.
Common Questions About Playground Equipment for Your School, Church, Park or Neighborhood
What is the cost of a large city park playground?
A large destination playground, the kind of big park playground families travel to, costs $150,000 to $250,000.
What is the least expensive playground ground covering?
In our surfacing estimate, engineered wood fiber costs the least: expect $3,500 to $5,500 for a play area of 1,000 square feet. It is shredded wood made to cushion falls. For the same space, artificial grass and rubber surfaces have higher costs.
How much ground area does a playground require?
Our cost estimate allows about 75 square feet of ground for each child who plays at the same time, so a playground for 30 children needs about 2,250 square feet.
Is it possible for a town to use federal housing funds on a park playground?
Yes. Cities, counties and towns can spend a Community Development Block Grant, federal money for local governments, on public parks. When the park serves neighborhoods with lower incomes, the town does not have to add money of its own.
Get quotes from playground dealers
Tell us about the site once. Dealers who sell commercial playground equipment in your area use it to quote equipment, surfacing and installation.